Rep. Leonard Lance is holding his 43rd town hall this month. Watch video
WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance's last town hall meetings came against a national wave of opposition to Republican plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and the lawmaker faced the wrath of angry constituents as did colleagues across the country.
Most of those in the audience defended the health care law, and would cheer later as Lance (R-7th Dist.) became the first New Jersey House Republican to eventually oppose the GOP legislation, which strongly was supported by President Donald Trump.
"I listen to constituents in various ways," Lance said. He said the tipping point was the Congressional Budget Office findings that the Republicans' American Health Care Act would have left 24 million more Americans without health care by 2026 than under current law.
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House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) wound up having to pull the measure from the House floor because it lacked the votes for passage.
The Republican legislation would have covered 500,000 fewer Garden State residents, make sharp reductions to Medicaid, and use most of the savings to cut taxes for corporations and wealthy Americans.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive research group, said the average Garden State resident buying health insurance off an exchange would have paid $2,740 more in higher premiums, co-payments and deductibles under the Republican replacement legislation than under the current health care bill.
With the House recessing during the Easter and Passover holidays, Lance will hold his 43rd town hall meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at the Mount Olive High School Performing Arts Center in Flanders.
Admission will be limited to residents of his congressional district and can be obtained on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 10 a.m. Friday at his congressional website, lance.house.gov.
Lance might have another health care vote to talk about as well. The White House and House Republicans are discussing a proposal that would let states decide whether to require insurers to provide such benefits as maternity care, prescription drugs and mental health services that now are required under the Affordable Care Act.
The conservative Freedom Caucus has been pushing for a reduction in required benefits as a way to lower premiums.
One question is how far can GOP leaders go to accommodate Freedom Caucus members without losing even more moderate Republicans who helped sink the original bill.
Another is whether making so many changes will allow party leaders to use a procedure to pass the bill in the Senate by majority vote rather than face a Senate Democratic filibuster that would block the legislation.
"I'm still cautiously optimistic that we can get there," said Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-3rd Dist.), who co-chairs the more moderate Republicans known as the Tuesday Group and was the only New Jersey Republican to support the GOP alternative. "Things went off the rails two weeks ago. Maybe we'll have better success."
There is a possibility of a vote by the end of the week, thought that would mean the CBO may not have enough time to calculate whether the revised legislation also would leave tens of millions of Americans without coverage.
The bill still is being drafted, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which Lance is a member of, has yet to scheduled a meeting to discuss it. But Lance said nothing he's heard so far would make him reconsider his no vote.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-9th Dist.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee that also has jurisdiction over the legislation, said he didn't see how House Republican leaders could woo both sides at the same time.
"They'll have to give away the store to get the Freedom Caucus on their side," Pascrell said. "As they do, they will push the moderates away."
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.